By LACIE PIERSON
Charleston Gazette-Mail
RAVENSWOOD, W.Va. — Seven years ago, Karen Gorrell sat on a couch in Ravenswood, crying and feeling defeated after she and hundreds of other former Century Aluminum employees lost their health care and retirement benefits.
On Monday, Gorrell again cried, but this time with relief, on a wooden bench in a courtroom in the Robert C. Byrd U.S. Courthouse. She had just learned she and more than 750 other people would see support for their health care restored after U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver granted final approval of a $23 million settlement with the company, ending six years of court proceedings in the case.
Once overwhelmed by uncertainty, Gorrell, the spokeswoman for the retirees, said Monday she was overwhelmed with pride and gratitude.
“You have to stand strong and fight,” Gorrell said, surrounded by a group of Century Aluminum retirees called “Momma K’s Army,” named for her. “It’s a journey. Sometimes the clock moves like a turtle, and it’s frustrating. But you can never lose your refrain.”
The settlement was reached between the retirees and the company in February 2017, and Copenhaver said multiple times Monday the settlement was a generous one, noting most of the rulings in the case had not gone in the retirees’ favor prior to the settlement.
The $23 million will be paid by Century Aluminum over the course of 10 years. The company is to pay $5 million this year to establish the fund, and it will pay $2 million each year for the next nine years to support the fund.
“By settling this litigation, we are eliminating a risk for our shareholders while providing a benefit for a group of extraordinary people, many of whom dedicated their professional lives to the safe and efficient operation of the plant,” Michael Bless, president and CEO of Century Aluminum, said in a news release announcing the settlement in February.
When the retirees filed the suit in federal court in 2011, there were 758 people named as plaintiffs. When the case finally was settled Monday, Gorrell said a little more than 660 of them still were alive.
“Every day we went on, we worried we wouldn’t get to see this,” Gorrell said. “Every day we worried we would see a new obituary. That part hurts.”
Century Aluminum opened in Ravenswood in 1957, with employees producing about 375 million tons of primary aluminum each year.
The plant closed in 2009, and 651 employees were laid off. One by one, former employees learned their medical insurance benefits would be revoked throughout 2010 and 2011.
There were efforts to re-open the plant, but it eventually was sold in 2015 to Applied Partners, a development company in New Jersey. Officials at that company plan to demolish the smelting facility and redevelop the land for future use.
As their case proceeded through the court system, Gorrell and members of “Momma K’s Army” traveled throughout the country to picket and appeal to Century Aluminum and union officials.
Gorrell said they were protecting their own interests as well as those of two Century Aluminum retirees whose lives ended before the group’s legal work began: Bryce Turner and Sam McKinney.
Turner was suffering from leukemia and receiving treatment in 2010 when he learned his health care benefits would be cut, and it was meeting with him, and a little support from her daughter, that led Gorrell to organize a meeting among Century Aluminum retirees to get their health care support back.
Turner passed away before the lawsuit was filed, Gorrell said. McKinney attended the meeting for the steelworkers in February 2011, and he died hours after the meeting ended. He was described as being very vocal at the meeting and advocating for action.
Gorrell said she often invoked Turner’s and McKinney’s names when addressing people at meetings, including Century Aluminum CEO Michael Bless.
She said she thought she’d kept the promises she made to Turner, McKinney and others who passed away before the settlement was reached, and she said Monday she felt more than their message had been heard by Century Aluminum officials.
“I said [to Bless], ‘I want you to understand, we have beating hearts, just like you,’” Gorrell said wiping away tears. “It took seven years, but to his credit, Mike Bless, he and his board, they finally heard our hearts beating.”
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